100 Lessons
by Ytak
Summary: 100 drabbles featuring the characters of Tantei Gakuen Q. Spoilers will abound. TV show based with possible manga influence.
1. Chapter 1

And so begins my foray into Tantei Gakuen Q (Detective School/Academy Q). There will be 100 drabbles all together and I will post everyday until I am done. Enjoy!

**One quick warning: There will be spoilers if you haven't seen the whole TV series.**

* * *

Title: Fondness  
Prompt: 33 Too Much

Hongou walked out of the classroom, not acknowledging the bow Class Q gave him. He could hear the classroom erupt into chatter and raised voices. He knew they were complaining about how tough he was and the like.

After a day like today, he simply felt like banging his head against the nearest hard object. All the questions, the muttered comments, and undiluted energy gave him another headache. When bad things happened and they learned hard truths, they were never down for long.

Hongou would never admit that Dan-sensei was correct in assuming he was fond of Class Q.

* * *

Title: Hidden Joy  
Prompt: 29 Birth

Satoru paced in the open office, pausing to stare at the phone every now and then. He shook his head a his own nervousness. Pacing and staring at the phone would not make it ring. He to be present.

He hated the subterfuge. He wanted to be there with his wife. He wanted to proclaim from the highest buildings that he loved that woman and she was his.

But it was not safe. When he tried to tell her his guilt, she'd put a finger to his lips and smile.

The phone rang.

His wife said, "Tell papa 'hello,' Kyuu."

* * *

Title: Opportunity  
Prompt: 51 Water  
Comment: Pure speculation on my part because it was very convenient.

The disguised figure laughed to himself as he watched the hypnotized figure initialize the release of water from the dam. The fact that he could not release the water without the alarm sounding disappointed him but the could not be helped.

The mere fact that the great Dan Morihiko placed himself in such a position... was a delicious opportunity not to be missed!

This moment made up for the hours of waiting, the months of planning. And now, everything was coming together.

If some wanna be student stopped to help, he'd die. If he didn't, then Dan would still die!

* * *

Title: Sum  
Prompt: 26 Teammates

Yukihira stared at Class Q. She knew her own classmates were doing likewise. Well, except for Saborumaru. He ignored the antics and friendliness of the rival class, except when he thought he could show them up.

She'd work with her classmates but found it hard to actually be friends with them. That was one thing about Class Q that confused her. They weren't simply classmates, they also seemed to be friends. When they worked together, they were greater than when they worked alone.

Even when she worked with her classmates, it did not produce the same results. It confused her.

* * *

Title: Need  
Prompt: 88 He

As the report came over the radio, he could feel his blood turn to ice in his veins. They had Kyuu! They must have followed him once and located his son. He knew he could not stand around and wait for the police to act.

He needed to save someone as dear to him as his wife, even if that person didn't know why. Keeping the secret from his son made his heart ache and made him sloppy.

He'd allowed himself to become friendly with Kyuu but he couldn't not stay away.

Now his son needed him more than ever.


	2. Chapter 2

Reviews are loved and cherished.

* * *

Title: Sleepless  
Prompt: 79 Agony

Dan lay on pristine white sheets. His brown hair possessed more gray that it had a month earlier. The wrinkles that had been faint before now etched his face.

His loss was deep. To lose his friend, colleague and former apprentice caused enough pain. More than that, he agonized of the loss for the wife. They barely had any time together before. Now, they would have no more.

Dan knew she held her fears close and did not hold her husband back. That was why he had been able to give it his all and bring down an evil organization.

* * *

Title: Practice  
Prompt: 43 Square

"Wait! No, Kyuu-! OW!" Megumi said, stopping, staring at Kyu. "You _were_ born with two left feet!"

He bowed repeatedly to her, "I'm sorry, Megu. I didn't mean to. Please don't be mad!"

Megumi huffed, glaring at him a moment. The teacher yelled at the pair, "Pair back up you two. If you stand there, everyone else will end up trampling you."

Quickly, Megumi grabbed Kyu's hands and moved him to right spot, neatly preventing just what the teacher warned about.

"Really, Kyu," Megumi said, "Square dancing isn't _that_ hard."

"I'll learn it in time for the assignment," he promised.

* * *

Title: Play  
Prompt: 73 Light

Sunlight filtered through the trees leaving a sun-dappled pattern on the person laying under it. His classmates stood off to the side, laughing amongst themselves.

They had plans. How could they not? He just left himself open to a really good prank. Stealthily (or so they thought) they crept up on him to give him a good scare.

Only to have him turn the tables on them. "I wouldn't do that," he simply said, not bothering to open his eyes.

They ran off as Kazuma sat up. He snorted derisively, "Such children." He laughed, thinking of one classmate, "Kyu."

* * *

Title: Magician  
Prompt: 13 White

Nanami laughed inside at the bafflement of the students when his seemed to 'vanish.' Straightening the collar of his polo shirt and settling the backpack more comfortably on his shoulders, he walked to the train at a leisurely pace.

He acted indigent as he was bumped by one of the students running by.

This exercise would be an excellent lesson for all of them. They were too focused on finding a man dressed in a very distinctive suit. One appeared to be looking for a cactus.

Like every new group of students, they assumed he always dressed flamboyantly. They'd learn.

* * *

Title: Poison  
Prompt: 59 Food

One of the most interesting, and horrifying classes, the Q class remembered taking was the one on poisons and venoms. Food was the preferred delivery method because it was the easiest to disguise.

The deaths that resulted from them were painful and disturbing. They knew they were painful from seeing people die from being poisoned but they never appreciated how bad it really was until they saw a few autopsies of the bodies and what happened to the insides.

What horrified them even more was that some people _lived_ only to be in pain for the rest of their lives.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Touched  
Prompt: 91 Birthday

Ryuu did not like his birthday. Each birthday brought him closer to a future he didn't look forward to. As heir to Pluto, his responsibilities grew with each birthday. Ones he did not want nor desire.

Ryuu did not look forward to his birthday until he became a member of Class Q. The day they learned his birthday was just a few days away, they went into a kind of panic, apologizing for not knowing and asking what his favorite cake was and making plans for the day.

It surprised him and touched him. For once, he liked his birthday.

* * *

Title: Power  
Prompt: 46 King

Hades lowered himself into a luxurious and antique chair from the reign of Louis XIV. An older woman in a servant's uniform walked over to his seat, a decanter and high ball glass ready for him. She placed the glass on the small table next to the chair and poured a measure of scotch from the decanter. Once finished, she stepped back from Hades and bowed.

He raised a hand, "You may go," he said and she left the room without a word. He lifted his glass and sipped the beverage as his mind turned to Ryuu's recent actions.

* * *

Title: Contact  
Prompt: 40 Sight

Ryuu felt a bit like a lost puppy when Kyuu introduced his mother to Ryuu and asked if Ryuu could stay for a while. 'He'd better not say that I followed him home like a puppy,' Ryuu thought observing Kyuu.

Briefly, his eye's met Kyuu's mother's eyes. He received the impression that she was thinking the same thing. It was not a hard impression to figure out, Kyuu just oozed innocence and charm using every weapon to get his mother to agree.

He could see the corner of her mouth twitch. 'He got her,' Ryuu thought, suppressing his own smile.

* * *

Title: Procrastination  
Prompt: 32 Sunset

Yuria stood in front of the big picture window and watched the sky change colors as the sun set. The beauty of the scene failed to penetrate the chill that had wrapped around her mind, though she tried to appreciate the scene.

Ryuu was not coming back. And she would have to be the one to tell King Hades.

She knew better than to hope for leniency, she had served long enough to know better.

Loosely, she held the phone in her hand. She spent one more minute watching the sun set, hoping that it would not be her last.

* * *

Title: Crush  
Prompt: 19 Pink

Megu quickly ran a brush through her hair before she pulled it back up into its usual pigtails. Briefly, she considered leaving it down or pulling it back into a braid.

'Would Ryuu notice?' she asked herself. She shook her head a moment later and laughed, 'Or course he would. I wonder if he'd like it?' She blushed a bit at the thought of him admiring her hair.

'I'm glad it's the weekend,' she thought, opening her closet door, 'I can pick out an outfit that actually looks good with my hair. And red heads think they have it hard!'


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to __ for dropping a couple of reviews. It warms my heart to get them. In response to your question, the prompts come from a drabble community on livejournal. And I like the idea of Kyuu butchering the English language, that just might work its way in. :)

* * *

Title: Future  
Prompt: 7 Days

The first days at Dan Detective School were a mixed bag of emotions for Kazuma. There was the elation of being accepted into the prestigious school, the trepidation of being around his eccentric classmates, the disappointment of not being Class A, and discovering, with shock and awe, that he was in the running to be the successor of the great Morihiko Dan.

In the following days, weeks, and months, not only did he learn that the skills needed to become a respected detective, he learned how to work with people to cover his own weaknesses and his strengths their weaknesses.

* * *

Title: Undercover  
Prompt: 65 Passing

Kinta's head turned, following the college woman as she passed by him. Megu reached up and smacked him on the back of the head.

"Eyes forward!" she said and added, almost as an afterthought, "dear."

He opened his mouth to say something but she preempted anything he might say by grabbing his ear and dragging him along by said appendage. Her mouth was set in a thin line and he was making pained sounds as he followed along.

Finally, she pulled him close and hissed in his ear, "I want a passing grade. Don't mess this up!"

* * *

Title: Business  
Prompt: 83 Lost

Hades watched through a hidden camera as one of his associates explained to the man what they aid they would give him to help him complete his revenge. Hades felt satisfaction knowing they were helping another lost soul find a way to ease his suffering.

There was no small satisfaction knowing that Dan would fail in preventing the coming murder. In this game between them, he would always come out ahead. Hades would make the first move and Dan would react. Dan would set a trap and Hades would step around it.

Hades enjoyed seeing Dan lose time and again.

* * *

Title: Heir  
Prompt: 1 Beginnings

Dan founded the School with the idea of training the next round of detectives for his Agency. To his surprise and joy, he found people who loved what the detective business as much as he did.

And the joy grew even more when he found a student who really understood and had the same drive. He had so much potential. The years passed quickly and it was clear to everyone at the Agency and School that the boy, now man, was Dan's successor.

He had the charisma, the drive, the intelligence and the heart to take over when Dan retired.

* * *

Title: Women  
Prompt: 70 Storm

Kinta rubbed a red spot on his face. A small voice in the back of his head teased that he could still hear the slap echoing around the room.

_That was uncalled,_ he huffed, watching the woman stomp away. _Okay, maybe it was. I did not know she's almost the same age as Kyuu and Megu. I thought girls liked to be thought older than they really are._

Kinta slinked off to an empty bench to ponder the mystery of girls and women. Five minutes later, he was still as lost as ever.

_I hope I can solve it soon._


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Defense  
Prompt: 89 She

"Excuse me, Katagiri-sensei?" Megu said, bowing slightly to her teacher and Dan's assistant.

"Yes?" Katagiri said, trying to figure out what her student wanted.

"Um," Megu said, fidgeting a little and looking embarrassed. "Are there, um, extra self defense lessons offered for girls?" She looked up at Katagiri, "Because I don't want to be grabbed in a fight and end up a liability but I'm afraid to approach the girls from Class A."

Katagiri smiled, "Well, we don't offer anything special but you want to stay after, I can show you a few special moves that all women should learn."

* * *

Title: Chemical  
Prompt: 20 Colorless

"And the chemical is colorless, odorless, and tasteless," Kazuma read off of his computer. "It is frequently used as a device for murder in fiction but, in reality, impurities from the sources would make it detectable. Pure sources are only available through labs and scientific organizations."

"The victim did say the food tasted funny before he died," Ryuu observed, "And if we take the impurities into account, this chemical fits the symptoms perfectly."

Together, they looked over the list of things the chemical was commonly used in. Then they split up to look for the original source of the chemical.

* * *

Title: Change  
Prompt: 25 Stranger

Ryuu opened an encoded file on his computer. It had been years since he had looked at the document and even longer since he had written in it.

It was his personal journal from his years under Pluto and Hades. Trepidation caused his hand to freeze a moment before he entered the password. His heart did not want the reminder of the unpleasant time.

'But I need to see,' he thought, 'I need to know if I have changed.'

Reluctantly, he began to read. Finally, he came to the end. Relief colored his mind, 'I have changed for the better!'

* * *

Title: Fishing  
Prompt: 24 Family

Kyuu sat on the edge of pier, his fishing line draped loosely in the water as he waited for a bite. He look forlornly in his empty bucket and then glanced into the other bucket. There were three fish in that bucket.

The man sitting next to him noticed his glances. As subtly as he could, he said, "The fish are more likely to go for the bait if it is moving." Then, when Kyuu's eyes were on him and his fishing line, he gave it a few jerks.

Kyuu nodded and mimicked him. He whooped at a bite.

* * *

Title: Vision  
Prompt: 81 Blind

She would have to be blind to not see her husband reflected in Kyuu. They had they same kind of wide-eyed wonder at the world but the keen mind that let them put together seemingly unrelated pieces of information and make something of it.

'But,' she thought, 'It'll be a while before he's able to put together the mystery of women,' as she observed him put his foot in his mouth again around Megu. She'd since caved and allowed Class Q to meet at her house. She was glad she had. It warmed her to see her son around friends.


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Mettle  
Prompt: 66 Rain

Kazuma gulped nervously as he followed the police officer around. It did not matter that the rain had washed away the blood. The mortal, gaping wounds on the body in the grass still stood out starkly. Somehow, they seemed more prominent without the blood but they had a surreal quality that made them almost seem unreal.

Kazuma kept reminding himself that a detective would not turn away from the sight but, even after years, he still found it difficult to look. It was sad and disturbing. It also mad him mad. So, he would look to give the victims justice.

* * *

Title: Held  
Prompt: 93 Thanksgiving

Katagiri breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that, for all of School and Agency, it had worked out. Her days as a prisoner of Pluto had her worried about the safety of the Dan and those around him. It had shaken her to the core to know that Pluto was using her image to get close.

She'd not even known that they had captured Dan until they were making their escape from the ship. The members of Pluto had hinted at it but they had hinted at many things that weren't true.

She was thankful Dan and everyone were safe.

* * *

Title: Retainer  
Prompt: 54 Air

The air had a bite to it that morning, as Nanami stood back from the police as they did the initial investigation of the victim and crime scene. The police ignored him for the most part except when one turned and noticed him silently standing there. He disappeared into the snow covered landscape thanks to his normal white outfit with a white trench coat as a winter addition.

He didn't need to get close to see that the perpetrator had run off. Nanami even had a good idea of where he threw the weapon. Now to clue the police in.

* * *

Title: Steamrolled  
Prompt: 64 Fall

'The leaves are starting to turn yellow,' Ryuu observed, following Kyuu to school. To his utter surprise, Kyuu's mother had enrolled him at Kyuu's school on day and took him to take the entrance exam.

She seemed to have adopted him as another son and, after finding out that he did not attend a school, had taken it upon herself to fix that issue. He'd passed the entrance exams easily and found himself starting school mid-year. Ryuu wasn't worried about doing well in the classes. He worried about how to associate with people he had been taught were inferior.

* * *

Title: Generation  
Prompt: 3 Ends

Megu stood off from a group of young people, much like how she and Class Q had been years ago and marveled how things had and had not changed since she was young. The dynamics of youth did not change in her eyes, they still thought they were invincible and could handle anything.

'I hope they don't learn the way we did,' she thought sadly, remembering Kinta.

She turned her mind from sad thoughts. 'He'd worked for a better future and that's why I am here,' she thought, remembering Dan-sensei and how he guided and taught their class.


	7. Chapter 7

And __ (odd way to sign your name, I feel like I'm replying to a secret agent), I'm glad you are enjoying the little snippets. You'll find they span from the funny to the dark to the introspective. Since I can't seen to develop or write a longer story for TGQ, I figure drabbles are a good outlet. If anyone wants to run with one of the drabble ideas, drop me a line an I'll say yes.

* * *

Title: Staged  
Prompt: 49 Queen

The young woman had been called the Queen of the stage. Now, she laid, sprawled out steps to the stage like a puppet with its strings cut.

"We thought she was trying to get us going again," a student said tearfully. "She liked to try stuff to see what she could pull off. Once, she made it look like stabbed, fake blood and all."

Kyuu listened from behind a curtain. His eyes surveyed the backstage area. After the initial shock of finding a schoolmate dead wore off, his mind had slipped into 'detective mode' to look for clues.

* * *

Title: Memory  
Prompt: 36 Smell

Megu was glad that she couldn't remember the smells of crime scenes. 'I wouldn't be able to do this if I could remember the smells,' she thought, covering her mouth and nose with a scented handkerchief as she looked around the days old crime scene. Even with the body gone, the smell of death still hung in the air.

Finally, she ran out of room to look at and knew it was time to look at where the body had been found. Part of her quailed deep inside at what she was going to see. It would not be pleasant.

* * *

Title: Cactus  
Prompt: 18 Green

A little boy stared at potted cactus. The cactus seemed to be sweating. The kid reached out with a finger and poked the plant in a non-needle spot, jumping back when the plant twitched, moving away from the kid.

His face took on a fearful look. He tugged on his mother's skirt. "Mommy, that plant moved!" he said, his eyes tearing up.

Her eyes swept the plant but noticed nothing out of the ordinary. "You must've touched a soft spot, honey," she said. "Come or we'll be late."

As soon as they were gone, the cactus relaxed.

* * *

Title: Hiding  
Prompt: 6 Hours

Kyuu glanced out of the room he was hiding it. 'It's been hours,' he thought, 'It might be okay to come out.' He peeked out of the crack in the door again, his courage failing him utterly.

Carefully, he pulled the door closed, taking out his cell phone. There was still no message on it. He could recall Kinta yelling at him as he ran from Megu that they would let him know once it was safe to come out.

'How can she still be mad?' he wondered, opening the door for another peek. Megu stood on the other side.

* * *

Title: Vase  
Prompt: 75 Shattered

Ryuu looked at the shattered vase. Something about the way it was broken seemed off. He knelt down for a closer look, noting how the vase itself had fractured. He picked up a piece and gave it a closer look.

It did not appear to be a normal ceramic and it did not appear to be a plastic or resin. 'A man made ceramic, perhaps?' he wondered. He tucked away the information in case he might need it later for the case.

The vase was not the only shattered item in the room, just the most unusual of the lot.


	8. Chapter 8

Title: Murder  
Prompt: 77 Paralysis

The middle aged man lay on the bed, his body unresponsive though he wanted to roll around in agony. He could feel every thread on his skin as though they were a hot knife.  
His wife stood over him. She had been very unhappy with him of late. But, over the last couple of days, she seemed to have settled down. Now, she stared at him with a look of unmitigated malicious happiness.  
She cooed a little at him as she tucked the sheets around him. "I never could've gotten rid of you without help," she said. "Worth the fee."

* * *

Title: Quiet  
Prompt: 56 Breakfast

Breakfast was a solemn affair. The night's horrors rested uneasily on the minds of the people at the table. Kyuu, who normally could muster up a positive attitude and energy from that nearly slept-ate. Ryuu absently shoved food around on his plate. Kazuma never showed, instead, opting to go to bed. Megu stared at the food on her plate and gave a little shudder. Kinta shoveled food into his mouth like it was going to disappear if he did not.  
Not one of them exchanged a word nor did they make eye contact. The horror was too fresh to share.

* * *

Title: Oops  
Prompt: 45 Moon

Megu let out a shriek and slammed the door shut. A more masculine yell echoed her yell from the other side of the door. She was a brilliant shade of red as she stood to the side of the door, looking at the floor.  
'I can't deal with him now!' she thought, walking off to the small kitchen at the end of the hallway. 'I'll pass out from embarrassment.'  
She was horrified to walk in Kyuu while he was changing. She blushed an even brighter shade as the stray thought crossed her mind, 'At least he has a cute butt.'

* * *

Title: Search  
Prompt: 53 Earth

The smell of the blood contrasted sharply with the smell of the freshly turned earth. The smells clashed with each other. Unbidden, Kazuma's mind pulled up information on how much blood it would take to make it smell that strongly and how fresh it would be.

He followed behind Kinta as they tried to trace the sound of a scream they had heard a few minutes earlier. Kazuma thought they were in the right area though they had not found the source of the blood yet.

He hoped, but knew it wasn't likely, that they would find the person alive.

* * *

Title: Punch  
Prompt: 15 Blue

Kyuu gingerly held an ice pack up to his eye which was already beginning to turn a lovely shade of blue. He did not sound bothered in the least when he told Kazuma, "Guess I'll have to duck faster next time! Wow! That was a really good punch."

Kazuma did not quite smirk. "My parents had me take self defense lessons for a couple of years."

"I'd say they paid off!" Kyuu said, taking the ice pack off briefly and looking in a mirror. "My mom wouldn't ever let me take any sort of martial arts."


	9. Chapter 9

Title: Warmth  
Prompt: 61 Winter

Kyuu woke up one morning, freezing on one side and comfortably warm on the other. Absently he snuggled into the warmth which tried to scoot away from him.  
"Um, Kyuu? You fell out of bed again," he heard the warm spot mutter as it moved and disappeared. Kyuu moved into the warm spot it left behind.  
Abruptly, the blanket disappeared. "Ack!" Kyuu said, sitting straight up. He was on Ryuu's futon and Ryuu stood to the side, holding the blanket. Kyuu laughed nervously.  
Ryuu shook his head. "I know we are close friends but we aren't that close," he said.  


* * *

Title: Test  
Prompt: 12 Grey

The sky turned an unpleasantly grey as storm clouds began to roll in. Kyuu watched them a few minutes more before he sent a message to Kinta telling him that they would need to run one of their alternate plans for the test.  
Despite the change in weather, Kyuu was feeling very excited. This year, they were allowed to assist with the testing of candidates for the school. Kyuu was not surprised the amount of planning that went into the test. But he had found it fun, in a way. And there were some clear stars of the incoming group.

* * *

Title: Doggedly  
Prompt: 71 Broken

Megu gingerly felt around her wrist with her other hand and had to bite down a cry of pain. 'Broken,' she thought, 'Definitely broken.'  
A noise from down the hill caught her attention. Doggedly, she stood up from where she had tripped and began to work her way slowly down the hill. She would never forgive herself if she did not see where the suspect was going. 'It's not like I can catch him with a broken wrist unless I get lucky.' She swallowed the pain and remembered that a detective would never give up. She could not give up.

* * *

Title: Thoughtfulness  
Prompt: 58 Dinner

Kyuu's mother sat on in front of the TV. But she was not watching it. She was listening to her boys move around in the kitchen. They had kicked her out and told her to rest because they were going to make dinner.  
She knew Kyuu could make simple dishes. She had drilled that much into his head. But she was not sure how good of a cook Ryuu was. 'I guess I am going to find out,' she thought, listening to some dishes clank together and Kyuu's surprised utterances.  
To her delight, pleasant smells began to fill the room.

* * *

Title: Danger  
Prompt: 35 Sixth Sense

Kinta shivered as a chill ran down his spine. It was actually more than a chill. It was more like a dread warning. Carefully, he sent the students back with what actually was a legitimate excuse.  
He had learned that his feelings were usually based on clues his mind would subconsciously pick up. If he thought hard enough about what his subconscious caught, he could actively put together those clues and act on them.  
What he was getting now, he did not like.  
He sent a quick message to his old classmates. There was no time to wait for backup.


	10. Chapter 10

Title: Date  
Prompt: 47 Heart

Kyuu felt like his heart skipped a beat when Megu stepped out of her apartment she shared with her sister. She wore a deep rose dress she with her done up in an elaborate do. She wore a pearl necklace on with matching earrings.  
She blushed slightly at the attention her gave her. "My sister gave me the pearls as a gift."  
Kyuu stuttered a moment, "They-they look great on you!" He seemed to remember his manners, "M-may I have you the pleasure of escorting tonight to dinner?"  
Taking his offered arm, she giggled as he tripped over his words.

* * *

Title: Worried  
Prompt: 80 Healing

Megu giggled a little as the doctor wrapped the plaster covered bandage around her broken wrist. It was not really funny but the medicine they had given her made her a little loopy. Kyuu stood beside her looking far less happy.  
The doctor told him that it was a clean break and should heal without any problems. Megu thought that information was hilarious. The doctor read Kyuu's look and informed him that it was simply the medicine. He gave Kyuu a prescription for pain killers before they left.  
Megu seemed to remember something, "Did you get him?"  
Kyuu nodded yes.  


* * *

Title: Explosion  
Prompt: 37 Sound

Kazuma covered his ears as he ran out of the building with the rest of the people. He had to uncover them briefly to stop people from passing by the nearest fire exit. Once he was out of the building, he still could feel the buzzing of the alarms in his head.

He stepped away from the milling crowd of people. The sound of sirens grew louder as the first fire truck arrived on the scene.

Kazuma turned to look at the building and felt his eyes widen. There was a massive hole in one wall and smoke pouring forth.

* * *

Title: Prisoner  
Prompt: 96 Writer's Choice (despair)

He pounded on the metal door, yelling until his voice disappeared. He did this for days, trying even harder when the daily ration of food and water was brought by. After weeks, he could feel his will weaken and would spend days slumped against a wall only moving to eat and use a crude toilet.

The hopelessness of his situation drove him to consider different ways to kill himself. And over time, the ideas morphed from killing himself to killing other people and how to do it without getting caught.

Especially ways for the person who trapped him down there.

* * *

Title: Escape  
Prompt: Writer's Choice (Hope)

Kyuu could feel despair try to smother him as he sucked the venom from Megu's leg. It threatened to extinguish all hope. He pushed the feeling aside, knowing that it would do no good for either of them.

If he let despair do that, they would both die, Megu from the snake bit and himself from starvation.

His mind moved quickly. He began to put together how the prisoner must have escaped and how he got water.

Hope began to flare back in his heart. He knew what he needed to do, how he might do manage to do it.


	11. Chapter 11

Title: Best  
Prompt: 04 First

Yukihara quickly sat down in the chair Kyuu had evacuated. She opened up the searches he had done and narrowed down the cases to one that would engage and challenge any member of DDS.  
"That one!" she whispered to herself, a big grin stretching from ear to ear. "I'll show everyone that Class Q isn't as good a Class A!"  
She shut the program down, clearing her search history (so there was no chance that any Class Q members would find out she searched) and walked confidently out of the room.  
Yukihara would show everyone who was first in school.  


* * *

Title: Beach  
Prompt: 94 Solstice

"Ahhhh, it's hot!" Kyuu complained, flopping back on the ground under an umbrella. Megu took a cold drink out of the cooler an placed it right on his exposed stomach. "AHHH! It's cold!" he yelled, bolting right up. The drink landed on the beach blanket with a soft thud.  
"Of course it's hot," Megu said, sipping at her own drink, "It is the first day of summer."  
"Mu, did you have to do that?" he asked, giving her a kicked puppy expression.  
Carefully, she avoided eye contact so she would not feel guilty, "Yes. You were acting younger than Kazuma."  


* * *

Title: English  
Prompt: 10 Years

The English teacher had seen many students pass through her classroom over the years, some were enthusiastic, some could care less about the language. Mostly, she saw students who tried to do as well as they needed to to pass the requirements but would never move beyond rote learning. They would be happy knowing the common phrases and responses but would never really think in the language.

Then there was Kyuu.

She was torn between laughing and crying when it came to him. He almost seemed to grasp the language and then would find a creative way to slaughter it.

* * *

Title: Experience  
Prompt: 41 Shapes

Kinta knocked his head hard enough that all he could see for a half a minute or so were indistinct shapes around the room. After his vision cleared, he could see that he was alone in the room. Nor was he wearing pants.

He blinked, trying to recall what lead to his pantless state. It was at that moment he realized that he was lying partly _under_ his bed which was why he had hit his head.

Then he remembered that the adults of the School had taken him out to celebrate his 20th birthday and he had gotten drunk.

* * *

Title: Nightmare  
Prompt: 67 Snow

Ash fell gently to the ground like snow coating the bodies that were scattered on the ground. One of them moaned and pushed up from the ground. She looked around and noticed the people near her. On unsteady arms, she levered herself up and wobbled to one body and another, checking for signs of life.

They were all dead. Finally, she came upon the body of her uncle.

Swallowing hard, she checked him for a pulse. Nothing. Dead. They were all dead.

Yukihara shot out of bed in a cold sweat, swallowing a scream that had threatened to come out.


	12. Chapter 12

Reviews, thoughts and comments are loved.

* * *

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* * *

Title: Stage  
Prompt: 82 Deaf

For a moment, Ryuu swore he had suddenly gone deaf as he walked onto the stage. There was not a sound in the room save for his light footsteps. A few seconds later, he wished he had gone deaf at the sudden round of squeals and cheers from most of the girls in the audience and a few of the guys.

He managed to give a small smile (which made it even worse) even though he wanted to scowl. Ryuu remembered the terms of the bet he had lost to Kinta. He grinned and bared it as th bidding began.

* * *

Title: Family  
Prompt: 95 New Year

Kinta grinned as he bounced his granddaughter on his knee with his grandson hanging onto the other knee, begging to be next. Kinta happily obliged. When he was done with that, he had the grandkids take a seat around him on the floor as he told them stories from his active days at Dan Detective Agency.

He was careful not to touch on some things but the older kids were sharp and caught his omissions (calling him on them). His daughter came around, rounding up the kids so they could set off fireworks because the new year was minutes away.

* * *

Title: Career  
Prompt: 86 Choices

There never really was much of choice in Kyuu's mind what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to be a private detective just like his role model, a man he simply called 'uncle.' As Kyuu grew up, he could never figure out why his mother was not happy with his choice of careers. She did not actively discourage it but she did not do anything to help his interest along and tried to get him interested in any number of other careers. But none appealed to him.

That was why he sneaked to the DDS entrance exam.

* * *

Title: Maturity  
Prompt: 23 Lovers

Kazuma could not help but stare at the pictures. The young couple had died in each other's embrace. Even in death, he could tell that they had wanted to be close in their final moment before they had been killed.

His vivid imagination replaced the couple with himself and his his girlfriend. Kazuma shoved the image from his mind though it still managed to persist through the whole investigation.

She was his first girlfriend and now he realized that he never really understood what it was like to be in love before.

He wished he'd let Ryuu take the case.

* * *

Title: Tailing  
Prompt: 98 Writer's Choice (Past)

Megu's head snapped around. "That's the suspect!" she said.

Kyuu quickly moved over and signaled before he did a sharp U at the next opportunity. "Which car?" he asked, scanning ahead for the vehicle in question.

She quickly told him the make, model and license plate. Kyuu worked his way up through the traffic until he was only a car length behind the car in question.

They tailed the car occasionally pulling ahead, a maneuver that Kyuu discovered he was good at until the car pulled into a parking garage. Megu hopped out to tail him on foot.


	13. Chapter 13

I did write that Kyuu-Ryuu drabble as a nod towards their sort of attraction to each other. I just happen to think it happens to be an intellectual attraction rather than a physical. They think a lot a like. Kyuu, in particular, hasn't even been around anyone who thinks that much like him. He's probably embarrassed by it. :)

* * *

Title: Loss  
Prompt: 13 Death

She lay on her bed, crying silently into a pillow because Kyuu was just a room over. Even though her bed was regularly empty it felt emptier knowing that he would never be coming back.

She hurt knowing that Kyuu would not even have the peripheral influence of a father in his life. Even if he had only been able to stand in as an uncle of sorts, he had been there.

She loved him so much that if she was able to give up her memories of him, it would not be a fair exchange, even though it hurt.

* * *

Title: Date  
Prompt: 92 Christmas

Ryuu gave the young woman seated across from him a gentle smile. She gave him a dazzling in return. The restaurant they dined in was filled with the live quartet off to the side and some gentle chatter from the other patrons.  
They made light, intelligent conversation until the meal arrived. During the first few minutes of the meal, Ryuu considered to woman across from him.  
She did not inspire the same reactions in him that Kyuu had for Megu, he did feel something for her that was warm and comforting. While it was love, he didn't know what kind.

* * *

Title: Search  
Prompt: 52 Fire

Kyuu breathed through a damp handkerchief as he searched through the smokey room for people they had potentially missed. What had started out as a simple investigation had rapidly spiraled into a desperate bid for survival.

A bomb detonated a few floors below, damaging three out of the four emergency escapes. There had been a desperate press to escape before Kinta organized the people for an orderly exit. Kyuu searched, one more time, in case he had missed someone knocked out by ceiling or other debris.

He regretted having to leave a couple of bodies to make his own escape.

* * *

Title: Thief  
Prompt: 05 Last

'At last!' he thought, sneaking glances left and right before he slid the cookie jar off the top of the refrigerator with gloved hands. He placed it quietly on top of the counter and slipped a couple of cookies into a plastic bag. The urge to eat a cookie was overwhelming.

'But that's just what I need. Don't need evidence in my teeth,' he thought, placing the lid quietly back on before he very quietly placed the jar back on the refrigerator.

Grinning, he turned around to make off with his cookies.

Megu stood there. "I caught you, Kyuu!"

* * *

Title: Father  
Prompt: 14 Black

The room was black in his vision at first, his eyes unadjusted from the bright outdoors. He knew it was a bad idea to barge right in, hollering Kyuu's name but sometimes his inner detective lost to the nearly buried father.

Right now, he was in full father mode. He needed to find his son and find him _now_. His inner father was hovering between hope and despair. He hoped his son was okay but a few black thoughts suggested that Kyuu had been killed by the kidnappers.

He knew that his behavior confused the boy but he didn't care.


	14. Chapter 14

Title: Godzilla  
Prompt: 22 Enemies

Yurie glared at the TV as it played an ad for the upcoming Godzilla flick. She found a knife in her hands, about to throw it at the TV. It took a supreme force of will to put the knife away and settle for changing the station.  
How she hated the white suited man from DDS! She silently vowed that she would see him dead whether by crossing some plot or by her own hand. She knew that killing him herself would lead to punishment but she no longer cared.  
Another Godzilla ad appeared and she threw the knife quickly.

* * *

Title: Cycle  
Prompt: 44 Circle

Dan reflected about the current situation with Class Q. It was almost like a circle with the way the situation had come around. He had been battling against Pluto and its leader for years. His own successor had fallen against them. But children of both had come together.  
They were so alike at times that it was scary. It reminded him that the same set of skills made both groups successful. Those skills were simply applied different ways and for different goals.  
That was why he made sure people who would abuse those skills never made it into his school.

* * *

Title: Ice  
Prompt: 48 Diamond

Icicles glittered like diamonds from the eves, many of them newly formed but there were a few that had clearly had been growing a few weeks until they began to fall, one by one. Under the eves lay a body a broken icicle lying around the body, in large pieces.  
Kinta picked up one of the bigger pieces that had been the base and looked at it with a keen eye. The base had a smooth look that indicated it was not freshly broken off like it would have been if it had fallen on the victim an hour earlier.

* * *

Title: Smug  
Prompt: 62 Spring

Saburomaru had a spring in his step as he walked past Class Q. Just like he anticipated, one of his own classmates was passing by them, just within earshot. He could not wait for them to "over hear" what news he had to tell Yukihara. She was not going to be the only one who would be surprised.  
To win a cruise on a brand new ship to Hokkaido! Yes, it was definitely worth gloating over.  
As he got closer, he heard the kid of the class say, "Yeah, and Dan-sensei asked me to investigate on that cruise to Hawaii."

* * *

Title: Alike  
Prompt: 9 Months

The first couple of months at DDS were crammed full of classes and lessons, occasionally interspaced with actual cases. It was exciting and hectic.

Kyuu would not have traded it for anything. For the first time since he was a kid he felt like he was being engaged mentally on a level that encourage him to go beyond what he had been to something greater and stronger.

He was so used to his classmates making fun of his interest that he had a tendency to go overboard now that he could share mysteries with other people who loved them, too.


	15. Chapter 15

Title: Weather  
Prompt: 68 Lightning

The thunder happened at the same moment as the lightning struck the tree outside the window of Class Q. Everyone, including the lecturer of the day Hongou, jumped away from the window, clearly startled by the unexpected event.

Everyone exchanged a quick look and scooted the desks away from the windows. Even though everyone was still a little pale from it, Hongou picked up right from where he had left off when the lightning struck.

The storm outside raged on. When they finally got to look at the poor tree the next day, it was cleanly split into two pieces.

* * *

Title: Mud  
Prompt: 17 Brown

Kyuu really tried not to laugh at Ryuu as he stood up, sticky brown covering his entire back from his head to his feet. He knew he couldn't hide the smile but he thought he might avoid the attentions of their martial arts teacher if he did not laugh.

Kinta had not been quite so lucky but he was holding his own against the teacher and looked like he had a real chance of "avenging" Ryuu.

Kyuu had no illusions about what would happen to him when his turn came. The mud on Ryuu would be nothing in comparison.

* * *

Title: Staging  
Prompt: 72 Fixed

He gave the room one final look over, though he did not have much time. Absently, he wiped his sweaty forehead on his sleeve. It looked like everything in the room had been fixed the way it way it needed to be.  
'If I've done it right,' he thought, 'No one'll ever know I did it.' He began to sweat more at the thought. His cell phone's alarm went off, reminding him that he had only another five minutes to finish everything up.  
He quickly turned it off and deleted it from the phone before slipping out of the room.

* * *

Title: Look  
Prompt: 85 Missing

Kyuu regarded the crime scene. Something was missing but he could not figure out what it might be missing. He briefly wished that Megu was there but forced himself to remember that he was the one that wanted her to stay home for the last few weeks of her pregnancy.  
Then he realized what was missing. For a house that was supposed to have children, it didn't look like there had been any there in weeks instead of the days the children were supposed to be missing.  
Everything was too clean. He feared it was too late for the children.

* * *

Title: Gift  
Prompt: 99 Present

Kinta found it hard to keep a straight face as his classmates (and friends) shook the presents he had given them for Christmas. He had gotten the idea from a comic strip a while back and had been saving the idea.  
They all had gift cards inside but he had also thrown in various things to make noise. His favorite reaction was the horrified/guilty expression on Ryuu's face from the sound of glass rattling around inside.  
He knew they were going to find a way to get back at him but he felt was totally worth it to baffle them.


	16. Chapter 16

Title: Stare  
Prompt: 28 Children

Kazuma stared at the child currently sitting on his lap. The kid stared right back at him, chewing on a teething ring.  
Kazuma began to sweat. Even after being acquainted with Kyuu and Megu's kid, he was uncomfortable with the child. He felt like the kid knew something he did not every time they shared the same space. It was not logical to think that a 6 month old could see straight to his soul but it sure like it.  
'Must be because both the parents are so smart,' he thought, considering the best way to break the staring contest.

* * *

Title: Future  
Prompt: 76 Rebirth

Ryuu looked down at his phone as it chimed gently, reminding him of the upcoming anniversary. The day he felt he began to change to someone different. He could not place the day he was reborn but he knew about the time he started to change and hope was offered to him.

The day he left the hospital and Kyuu stopped him from jumping, opening up his home.

He knew that he had begun to change before then but that was the day he place the change and, as a result, considered it day of his rebirth, his new life.

* * *

Title: Cherry  
Prompt: 90 It

It was a bright and sunny day with the cherry blossoms falling when the body was found hanging from a flowering cherry tree. It was hard to tell what had happened because once the woman who found the body screamed, everyone in earshot rushed over, ruining what clues there might be to her death.

It looked like it might be a suicide if she had climbed the tree before dropping but something about her death seemed off which was why her mother put in a call to DDS.

The case ended up being more difficult and dangerous than it appeared.

* * *

Title: Mugged  
Prompt: 57 Lunch

Yukihara was pulling her lunch from the refrigerator at the school. She assembled her chopsticks and sat herself down at one of the empty tables in the room.

She opened it up and was almost mugged by the smell. Without thinking, she put the lunch box on the table and scooted away, gagging and eyes watering.

After she could see again, she looked the... meal. Someone had replaced it with some unidentifiable blob.

She almost stormed to Class Q but remembered they promised retribution for the prank Class A had pulled last week and wondered what else they were planning.

* * *

Title: Restaurant  
Prompt: 39 Taste

"The last thing he said was that his food tasted funny," the woman said between tears. "He said tonight was going to be special. I know he made the reservation six months ago. Why did he have to die?" she wailed on the last part.

The police officer awkwardly patted her shoulder. He kept an eye on the kid from DDS. 'He really is a kid,' he thought. 'I don't see how he is going to get anything from this before the police detectives show up.'

He noticed the kid measuring up the waiters like he knew something.


	17. Chapter 17

Title: Celebration  
Prompt: 60 Drink  
Note: Legal drinking age in Japan is 20.

There was a small puddle of drool forming on the table where Kyuu rested his head. Kinta sung a drunken song along with, surprisingly, Ryuu.

"S'not right," Kinta said, poking Kyuu, "We need you, too. The song needs three people. Three!"

Kyuu stared at him groggily but joined in a minute later after he got the music (if not the lyrics) down. He dropped back off to sleep a few minutes later but Kinta and Ryuu didn't notice.

Instead, they had moved onto trying to play a video game but kept failing spectacularly. Eventually, they fell asleep, too.

* * *

Title: Dawn  
Prompt: 31 Sunrise

Kyuu blinked wearily at the light that streamed in through a crack in the curtains. After checking to make sure there were no clues, he opened the curtains to let in the sun. His weary mind took a moment to comprehend that the curtains were not opening. He double checked to make sure he was opening it correctly.

An idea formed in his mind. He walked to the next window and opened it's curtains with no difficulty.

'I know how he committed the murder!' he thought as he looked back over the window with the curtains that would not open.

* * *

Title: Infectious  
Prompt: 78 Disease

Megu gulped down bile as she took in the crime scene through the biohazard suit she wore. There were diseased corpses in the beds. From the looks on their faces, their deaths had been full of pain and agony.

She had responded to the call put out to the agency to see if someone could locate the source of the infection. The professionals had been unable to locate the source and they needed to know quickly.

Putting the bodies from her mind, Megu noticed the room was clean. Too clean. She quickly went to another room and noticed the same.

* * *

Title: Actors  
Prompt: 11 Red

Dan almost shook his head at the scene before him. Classes Q and A were all decked out to look like murder victims, each person representing a different type of death.

Most seemed to have fun with the idea but more than one student seemed a little disconcerted. 'With good reason,' he thought. 'They have all seen some sort of death by now.' He felt a twinge of guilt at exposing such young people to a brutal part of the world but acknowledged that they had chosen it.

They took directions from the other teachers and quickly got into position.

* * *

Title: Game  
Prompt: 42 Triangle

Kazuma toyed with the three sided die as the boy next to him went through his turn. 'I wouldn't have done that,' he thought as the Dungeon Master proceeded to bring out another creature. 'He likes to bring out more creatures if you jump in without backup.'

The other players shook their heads at his move but decided to let him play the part of game fodder. Someone always was.

Kazuma's phone rang. The call came from DDS. He excused himself from the game and headed to the school. He didn't want Kinta to know he played Dungeons and Dragons.


	18. Chapter 18

Title: Snub  
Prompt: 34 Not Enough

Megu snubbed Kyuu pointedly as he tried to apologize for his latest stunt involving her panties. 'I've had enough! He'll have to do better than just an apology this time. I'm tired of him calling out whatever color I'm wearing. It's immature!' she thought, doing her best to let Kyuu know that she was not talking to him.

'He's smart enough to figure it out but he's naïve enough to not think of the reason,' she thought, steeling her resolve for a long day of trying to ignore Kyuu. 'I want him to stop. I hope someone clues him in.'

* * *

Title: Race  
Prompt: 69 Thunder

Kinta watched the horses thunder down the track with an appraising eye. 'That one is going to win,' he thought, 'and those two are going to come in second and third.' The horses in question were a couple horse lengths back but Kinta knew he was right.

'Too bad betting on horse races bores me,' he thought, setting his sights on the jockeys. The current leader he was observing as an assignment. She was reportedly one of the best but she had been receiving threatening letters.

He settled back and swept the crowds with his binoculars, looking for anyone suspicious.

* * *

Title: Envy  
Prompt: 21 Friends

Saburomaru waved to the students of Class Q and walked off with a better-than-thou attitude. He threw back, "Go play your kiddy games. I've got adult things that need to be done."

But he watched them with envious eyes when he thought they were not looking. He wished that he could be friends with his own classmates. Class Q enjoyed each other's company even though they weren't clones of each other. Even when they had arguments, they did not let that interfere.

But he wouldn't admit that to anyone. The Great Saburomaru would never admit a weakness like that.

* * *

Title: Setup  
Prompt: 55 Spirit

Katagiri watched Class Q move around the mock crime scene cautiously. It took a force of effort not to smile at their tentative movements, especially when the boys realized they had to look through the ladies underwear drawer.

But corpses did not smile. So, she had to keep the 'dead' expression on her face. Her mischievous side slyly suggested that the bolt upright and go 'boo!'

'It would be interesting to see how they would react,' she thought. 'It might even be good for them on dealing with unexpected events. I'll suggest it to Dan-sensei. I think he'll like it.'

* * *

Title: Guilty Pleasure  
Prompt: 84 Found

'Found it!' Saburomaru mentally crowed as he pulled a book off of a bookshelf. He looked around furtively before shifting the books slightly to make the bookshelf look untouched.

Gleefully, he slipped out of the room and found an unoccupied classroom. He made himself comfortable at a desk.

He pulled his favorite bookmark from his pocket and dove right into the story.

"What are you reading?" a voice said, startling him out of his chair.

Kinta leaned over the desk. A big grin spread across his face as he read the title.

"A romance novel?" he said, laughing.


	19. Chapter 19

5 more drabbles to go. I -will- finish before New Year's.

* * *

Title: Planning  
Prompt: 2 Middles

Dan shuffled papers around his desk. It was almost the middle of the day, time for lunch. He wanted the sensitive items locked away before he went to lunch.

One of the papers caught his eye. He spent a few moments gazing at it. The paper pertained to the creation of a new class, one designed to pick out his successor.

They were roughly in the middle of the plans, forced to go slower than they liked to keep the plans hidden. 'We can't hide them forever,' he thought, 'but we can keep out negative influences until the final stages.'

* * *

Title: Watermelon  
Prompt: 63 Summer

Kyuu laid out in the shade. "It's do hot!" he moaned, fanning himself ineffectively with a hand.

"Then, cool off!" Kinta said, putting a slice of watermelon on his face. "It's good!"

"Hey! That's sticky!" he said, grabbing it before it fell off. He sat up and took a big bite out of it. "Mmm, good watermelon."

Ryuu just shook his head as he selected a slice for himself and began to eat it with more dignity.

Megu watched him from the corner of her eye as she used her watermelon slice to hide her blush.

* * *

Title: Prank  
Prompt: 50 Joker

The members of Class B swept through Class A's classroom, doing a quick wipe down to hide the signs of their presence. Yukihara had to resort to dragging the most egotistical member of their class out. 'Sure, he can find clues but he's no good at hiding them,' she thought, seriously tempted to shove him into a closed and lock the door.

It took some work but finally managed to make him think it was his idea to 'distract' Class Q. 'They'll never suspect that _he's_ simply meant to make them think he's up to something. Not the whole class.'

* * *

Title: Kidnapped  
Prompt: 74 Dark

The darkness seemed to close in on child. He cried softly, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself. The last time he had done that the bad men had hit and swore at him.

He'd heard them talking. Even _if_ his parents paid the ransom, they were probably going to kill him.

The sounds of shouts entered his box. He felt it shift as something fell against it. An angry growl that was cut short by a meaty thud.

He scrunched his eyes tightly shut as the lid slowly opened.

"You okay, kid?" asked a gentle voice.

* * *

Title: Dress  
Prompt: 16 Purple

Megu shook her head, "That's not a good color on you," she said, taking the purple dress away from Ryuu. She handed him another dress to hold up. She shook her head despondently.

"Mou, it's so hard to find something that looks good on you," she cut him off before he could interject a comment, "That isn't blue."

Kyuu suddenly popped into the room flailing something black and white around. "Try this!" he said, throwing it at Ryuu.

Megu opened her mouth to berate Kyuu then she got a good look at Ryuu. "That'll do."


	20. Chapter 20

Title: Body  
Prompt: 38 Touch

'Body is cold,' Kyuu noted, as he checked for a pulse. He tuned out the hysterical crying of the woman behind him. Ryuu's soothing voice seemed to be working its magic for the crying lessened.

'I'll let him take care of her,' he thought, looking around the area for signs of what happened to the man.

It was a well trafficked area with people passing through every few minutes and there had been no body ten minutes ago.

He noted that there were video cameras scattered around. 'But something tells me we won't see what happened on them,' he thought.

* * *

Title: Pregnancy  
Prompt: 8 Weeks

'Forty weeks,' Megu thought, as the doctor gave her a rundown on the typical pregnancy. With a small smile, she placed a hand on her still flat stomach. Though she had read up on what happened during a typical pregnancy, she still was happy to have someone explain it to her. It gave her greater ease.

A quick glance at Kyuu showed that it was opposite for him. He was growing more and more apprehensive at the doctor's lecture. She took his hand and gave him a smile. His tension lessened but didn't disappear completely.

Finally, the doctor took questions.

* * *

Title: Freedom  
Prompt: 87 Life

The first breath of air as he stepped out of his prison smelled sweeter than the finest mountain air after a rain. It didn't matter that the narrow staircase smelled musty. It was the smell of freedom. An opportunity to snuff out the life of his tormentor.

He knew that there was much to do before his revenge could be delivered. But he could wait and gather resources, be they people and their talents or supplies. Time was on his side.

'I can't decide if I to let him know I am going to kill him or simply kill him.'

* * *

Title: Phone  
Prompt: 27 Parents

The first phone call between Kyuu's mother and Dan was strained. It had come the very evening after the entrance exam to DDS. He had been stunned to silence for the first minute by the vehemence in her voice. She had sounded very much like she wanted to throttle him through the phone.

It wasn't until much later that he realized just _who_ she was to him. When he learned that she had been his successor's wife (and their son was now in the running), he felt more than a little foolish which he hadn't had in a long time.

* * *

Title: Sunset  
Prompt: 100 Writer's Choice (Future)

Dan slowly opened his eyes and looked out the window. The setting sun made the clouds burn with reds, oranges, and purples. He knew that his own life was setting and that the next time the sun rose, there would be others in charge.

Despite knowing his time was coming to a close, he felt at ease. His school and agency were in good hands and would flourish. Pluto was gone but if an organization like it ever rose again, he knew that it wouldn't last.

The colors faded into darkness and Dan closed his eyes for the last time.

* * *

**That's the end. Thanks for reading and have a Happy New Year!**


End file.
